Coronavirus - A Book For Children

by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson & Nia RobertsIllustrated by AxelSchefflerCoronavirusA book for childrenConsultant: Professor Graham MedleyProfessor of Infectious Disease Modelling,London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Nosy Crow made this book quickly, to meet the needs of childrenand their families. No one involved was paid anything for their work.We would like to thank the following people for theirgenerous and knowledgeable input:Axel SchefflerProfessor Graham MedleyProfessor of Infectious Disease Modelling,London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineSara HaynesHeadteacher, Arnhem Wharf Primary School, LondonAlex LundieDeputy headteacher, Arnhem Wharf Primary School, LondonMonica FortyHeadteacher, Ben Jonson Primary SchoolDoctor Sarah CarmanNHS Clinical Psychologistspecialising in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and NeurodevelopmentFirst published in the UK in 2020 by Nosy Crow LtdThe Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row London, SE1 1YW, UKwww.nosycrow.comIllustrated by AxelSchefflerCoronavirusA book for childrenby Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson & Nia RobertsISBN 9781839941467Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/orregistered trademarks of Nosy Crow LtdText Nosy Crow, 2020Illustration Axel Scheffler, 2020The moral right of the illustrator of this work has been asserted by himin accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.All rights reserved.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0International License. To view a copy of this license, visit r send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.Nosy Crow does not have any control over, or any responsibility for,any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.Consultant: Professor Graham MedleyProfessor of Infectious Disease Modelling,London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

There’s a new word you might have heard.You might hear people talking about it or you might hear it on the news.This word is the reason that you’re not going to school. It is the reason youcan’t go outside very often or visit your friends. It might be the reason whythe grown-up or grown-ups who look after you are at home.The word isCoronavirusBut what¡s ¡t and why ¡severyone talk¡ngabout ¡t?

WHAT IS THE CORONAVIRUS?But what’sa v¡rus?virus.The coronavirus is a kind of virusViruses are tiny germs that are sosmall that you can’t see them.There are lots of different sorts of coronaviruses and someof them infect people. If you have been infected with one ofthese coronaviruses, all you probably had was a snotty noseor a cough.Blessyou!Could be acoronav¡rus . . .ACHOO!They are so light that they can float through the air in tinydrops of water, and they can sit on your skin without youfeeling them. If some of these germs get inside you, they canuse your body to make more germs, and that can make you ill.Do I have germson me now?Yes,but hardly anyof them aredangerousBut when this completely new coronavirus germ gets insidea human body, it causes an illness called COVID-19. Whenpeople talk about “catching the coronavirus”, they aretalking about this illness.

HOW DO YOU CATCH THE CORONAVIRUS?Because this coronavirus is new, scientists don’t knoweverything about it yet. But they think that there are twomain ways that people can catch it.It’s easy to get the coronavirus germsfrom inside your body on your handswhen you touch your nose or yourmouth.Coronavirus germs live in people’s throats and mouths.When someone who has the coronavirus coughsor sneezes or breathes out, the germs come outof their mouth in tiny drops of water.Though you can’t see the germs, you can sometimes see thesetiny drops. In cold weather, they make a cloud of steam! Soif someone else accidentally breathes in the air with thecoronavirus germs in it, they would probably get the illness.It’s socold today!Yes, I can seeour breath!Hmm, I wonder ¡fthere are germs onth¡s door handle?If the person with the coronavirusgerms on their hands uses a door, theinvisible germs can live on the handlefor hours. When someone else opensthe door, they get the germs on theirhands too.And if they touch their nose or mouth,the germs can get into their body.NO!So you can also catch thecoronavirus by touchingthings that someone with thevirus has already touched.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CATCH THE CORONAVIRUS?Some people, particularly most children,hardly feel ill at all when they get thecoronavirus. But they still have coronavirusgerms in their body that they could give tosomeone else by mistake.ButI feel f¡ne,Mum!The body has an amazing weapon against viruses calledantibodies. Tiny cells in your blood make antibodies toantibodiesfight each different virus invader. The antibodies catch theviruses, then the blood cells swallow them up and destroythem and then the person gets better.Each of us has more than 10 billiondifferent kinds of antibody inside us.When they get the coronavirus, lots of people get coughs and ahigh temperature. Some people also have a headache or achesall over their body.People are usually ill for a few days. But bodies are amazingthings. When a new germ, like the coronavirus, gets intosomeone’s body, their body knows that the germ shouldn’t bethere and starts killing it.Hoorayfor ant¡bod¡es!I’m betternowI feel reallyawful!That means there are more differentantibodies inside you right now thanthere are people in the world!

SO WHY ARE PEOPLE WORRIED ABOUTCATCHING THE CORONAVIRUS?Nearly everyone has a body that is healthyenough to fight the coronavirus. Butthere are some people who find it harder,because their bodies aren’t as strong.They might be people who are morethan 70 years old, or already haveother illnesses like cancer that mightmake their bodies weaker.I need tobe extracarefulI’ll dance ¡nmy l¡v¡ng room¡nstead!And meThat’s why these peoplereally need to stay at home,away from anywhere theymight catch the coronavirus.They need more help to fight the coronavirus. This meansthey have to go to hospital and they might need to use aspecial machine called a ventilator to help them breathe.We’ll get youto the hosp¡tal¡n no t¡meThey won’t be able to have visitors. That might meanyou won’t be able to go and visit some of your familyfor a while, to help keep them safe.H¡ Granny,how are youtoday?However, sometimes even this might not be enough to helpthem get better and, if that happens, then sadly they might die.

IS THERE A CURE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS?Most people get better from the coronavirus by themselves.But doctors and scientists want to help everyone do thatquickly and safely.Doctors don’t have a cure for the coronavirus yet becauseit is a new illness. Some medicines that doctors alreadyknow about might help, so they are trying them out onpeople who are ill.But even if they don’t work, scientists are also working onmaking completely new medicines for the coronavirusthat no one has ever had before.I hopeth¡s newmed¡c¡neworksvaccine.Another thing that scientists are working on is a vaccineAlldone!A vaccine is a special medicine that isusually injected into your body whileyou are healthy. Inside the medicineare weak or dead virus germs.The antibodies in your blood canpractise killing these germs, so thatif you catch that virus, they can startfighting the live virus germs faster.You probably already had some vaccines when youwere a baby. So that means you won’t get some illnesses!I was vacc¡natedwhen I was l¡ttleand now I can’tget measlesIt takes many months to make a new medicine.Before you can give it to lots of people, you haveto make sure that it is safe for everyone, so youhave to try it out carefully on a few people at atime. Then, when you know it works and is safe,you have to make enough for everyone whoneeds it.

WHY ARE SOME PLACES WE NORMALLY GO TO CLOSED?Although lots of people will get better from the coronavirus,it’s really important that people who might become very illdon’t catch it. This means we need to make sure that as fewpeople as possible get the coronavirus, so that we don’t passit on to anyone who might get very ill. And if lots of people getill and have to go to hospital at the same time, then hospitalswill get too busy to look after people properly.I’m work¡ngw¡th nurses tohelp people whoare ¡llSome people, like doctors or nurses or peoplewho work in food shops or people who deliverthings to our homes, have to go out of theirhomes to go to work.It’s so easy to get the coronavirus that we need to be very carefulthat we don’t get too near people who don’t live with us.School’s closed –HOORAY!I’m work¡ng so youcan st¡ll buy foodSchool’s closed –BOO!I'm work¡ng todel¡ver the th¡ngsfam¡l¡es needMost people can also go out of their home ifthey need to buy food or to exercise, but theymust be very careful not to go near anyone else.If you or anyone in your family feels ill, andthinks they might have the coronavirus, youcan’t come out of your home at all for two weeks.We all have to stay at home to protect the peoplewho will find it hard to fight the coronavirus.And that’s why all the places where lots of people are together– like schools and libraries – are closed at the moment. Thegovernment of this country has said that people can only gooutside their homes if they really, really have to.I’m working w¡thdoctors to helppeople who are ¡ll

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE AT HOME ALL THE TIME?Sometimes being at home with the people you live with can be great fun.You can do things together that you wouldn’t normally do when you areat school or when the grown-ups are at work.Somet¡mesI m¡ss myfr¡endsBut somet¡mesI feel boredThese are all normal things to feel. And everyonewho lives with you probably feels the same waysometimes, even if they try not to show it.Bored!Bored!Bored!The grown-up or grown-ups who look afteryou might also feel worried. Sometimes theymight feel worried about work. Sometimesit might be hard to buy the things that youall need, and that might worry them too.Somet¡mesI feel angrySomet¡mesI feel sadBut whatif I feelworr¡ed too?If you are worried, talk about yourworries to a grown-up who looksafter you. If you are still going toschool, maybe you could talk to ateacher. Or maybe you could talkto a teacher or someone else inyour family on the phone or usinga computer or tablet.

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?You are already helping a lot by staying at home. But you canalso help by taking extra care to make sure you don’t catch orpass on the coronavirus to anybody else.But germs cancome ¡n and outof my nose andmouth too.Did you know that viruses are killed by soap? So if you washyour hands really carefully and for long enough, you won’thave any coronavirus germs on your hands. You can singa song while you wash your hands to make sure you arewashing them for long enough – long enough to singHappy Birthday twice!Happy b¡rthday to me.Happy b¡rthday to me.Happy b¡rthday dear meeeeeeee.Happy b¡rthday to me!AND ONE MORE TIME!!!Happy b¡rthday to me. Happy b¡rthday to me.Happy b¡rthday dear meeeeeeee.Happy b¡rthday to me!If you have to wipe or blow yournose, use a tissue and put it in thebin straight away. Remember towash your hands too, because thecoronavirus lives in your snot andit can get on to your hands fromthe tissue.If you have to cough or sneeze,do it into the inside corner of yourelbow, not on to your hand. Thenyou can’t give the coronavirus toother people that way.If everyone does these things,it will make a big difference!